Analyst

Samsung will need to shift from relentlessly chasing Apple to simultaneously defending its smartphone userbase, analysts have warned, with the Korean company facing an unexpected challenge from Sony in what has so far been a European stronghold. Samsung devices now make up almost half of all smartphones sold in Europe, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech figures, the Telegraph reports, but Sony's Xperia Z mounted a surprise attack of sorts, with a significant percentage of Samsung Galaxy S II owners opting to upgrade to Sony's flagship in the UK, rather than the Galaxy S 4.

The post-PC era continues to see tablets and smartphones drive overall growth, researchers claim, with traditional PC shipments predicted to decline more than 10-percent this year. 2013 sales of computing hardware - including tablets, smartphones, and PCs - are expected to grow 5.9-percent year on year in 2013, Gartner calculates, but that will be predominantly down to slates, it's argued. In fact, compared to 2012, tablet sales are expected to jump almost 68-percent.

Samsung took a whopping 95-percent of global Android smartphone profits in the first quarter of this year, one analyst firm claims, with no other manufacturer using Google's OS coming close to the South Korean behemoth. The global Android phone business saw profits of $5.3bn, according to Strategy Analytics' sums, of which $5.1bn was sunk straight into Samsung's wallet, the firm calculates.

A rise in convertible and slider touchscreen form-factors will offset the "post-PC era" slide of notebooks, but will be unable to fend off the full might of tablets, new research suggests. Tablet shipments will rise to 579.4m units by 2017, NPD DisplaySearch projections indicate, while traditional notebooks will drop to 183.3m units by the same point. However, a new breed of touch-enabled notebooks will step in to help arrest some of the slump.

It's been rumored for a while now that Apple will be releasing a lower-cost iPhone at some point this year -- most likely sometime in the fall, which now begs the question of how many of these low-cost iPhones will sell. Since they'll be cheaper than a regular iPhone, it makes sense that Apple will sell a ton of these, and analysts agree.

A sluggish start to HTC One shipments hasn't robbed the new flagship of all its stream, new analyst figures claim, with a "mini turnaround" predicted as the One picks up the pace. 1.2m One units are expected to ship in April, J.P. Morgan Securities' supply chain checks indicate, up from just 300,000 in March after the phone's stumbling launch, with around 2m expected to ship in May.

Samsung's Galaxy S 4 won't be enough to stem the flow of iPhone buyers, new US research suggests, with the freshly-revealed fourth-gen flagship facing waning brand loyalty. Just 15-percent of US consumers intend to buy a Samsung phone within the next six months, Yankee Group's March research indicates, versus 40-percent aiming to buy an iPhone. Meanwhile, Samsung faces more difficulties persuading existing owners to replace their handset with another Samsung, the research group claims, compared to Apple loyalty.

Samsung has learned from its supply chain hiccups and has steeled its manufacturing partners to meet expected Galaxy S4 demand, it's said, amid analyst predictions of potentially 10m sales in month one. The Korean company would not be drawn on what preparations had been made, but "ased on checks we had with suppliers," IBK Securities analyst Lee Seung-woo told Reuters, "Samsung has already done significant work to ensure smooth supply."

While the BlackBerry Z10 released among a crowd of curious and eager onlookers, most of which were excited to see BlackBerry's newest offerings, the general public doesn't seem to be too crazy about the new Z10 according to Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley, who cut the sales forecast of BlackBerry's new smartphone from 1.75 million units to just 300,000.

We were hoping after the launch of the iPhone 5 that we'd get at least a short break from the seemingly endless stream of rumor and speculation, but we quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. Here's some more speculation to toss on the ever-growing pile: Jefferies analyst Peter Misek thinks Apple has two new iPhone prototypes in testing. Care to guess what one of those prototypes is?

With the holiday shopping rush comes the expectation that console and game sales will enjoy a boost. According to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, however, that wasn't quite the case for the Wii U. Bhatia said in a note today that sales of the Wii U and its games at GameStop have come in under expectations, which is a bit surprising considering that Wii U sales have seemed generally healthy so far.

We're used to hearing about Apple devices selling out here in the US, and it appears that in China things aren't much different. Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White is saying today that iPad minis are flying off shelves there, after its launch in Hong Kong on back in November and China earlier this month. According to White, many stores in China and Hong Kong are out of stock, while the fourth-generation iPad, which launched at the same time, is still relatively easy to get.